Efficient On-the-fly Category Retrieval using ConvNets and GPUs

We investigate the gains in precision and speed, that can be obtained by using Convolutional Networks (ConvNets) for on-the-fly retrieval - where classifiers are learnt at run time for a textual query from downloaded images, and used to rank large image or video datasets. We make three contributions: (i) we present an evaluation of state-of-the-art image representations for object category retrieval over standard benchmark datasets containing 1M+ images; (ii) we show that ConvNets can be used to obtain features which are incredibly performant, and yet much lower dimensional than previous state-of-the-art image representations, and that their dimensionality can be reduced further without loss in performance by compression using product quantization or binarization. Consequently, features with the state-of-the-art performance on large-scale datasets of millions of images can fit in the memory of even a commodity GPU card; (iii) we show that an SVM classifier can be learnt within a ConvNet framework on a GPU in parallel with downloading the new training images, allowing for a continuous refinement of the model as more images become available, and simultaneous training and ranking. The outcome is an on-the-fly system that significantly outperforms its predecessors in terms of: precision of retrieval, memory requirements, and speed, facilitating accurate on-the-fly learning and ranking in under a second on a single GPU.Comment: Published in proceedings of ACCV 201

Assessment of motor coordination in primary education of Barcelona and province

El presente estudio tiene por objetivo valorar la coordinación motora de estudiantes de primaria de Barcelona y provincia. Para la evaluación se ha utilizado el test KTK en el que participaron 1254 personas, 670 niños y 584 niñas, de edades entre 7 y 10 años. Se realizó el análisis descriptivo y la comparación entre género y edad. Los resultados indican que más del 40% de la población estudiada presenta una coordinación por debajo de la normalidad, cerca de un 57% de la muestra fue clasificado con coordinación normal y solamente el 4,6% lo ha sido por encima de esta clasificación. Los chicos han presentado resultados significativamente mejores que las chicas. Los datos del estudio no permiten generalizar los resultados, sin embargo como es una muestra representativa, nos lleva a creer que la población de alumnos en educación primaria de Barcelona y su provincia tiene un nivel coordinativo por debajo del esperado para su edadThe present study aims to assess motor coordination of primary-school students of Barcelona and its province. For evaluation we used the KTK test. 1254 people, 670 boys and 584 girls with ages between 7 and 10 years participated in the study. Descriptive analysis and the comparison between gender and age were performed. The results indicate that about 40% of the population studied presents results below normal, around 57% were classified with normal coordination and only 4.6% has been above this rating. The boys have presented significantly better results than girls. The study data do not permit to generalize the results, however as a representative sample, it leads us to believe that the student population in elementary education from Barcelona and its province has a coordinative level below expected for their ageAgrupació de Recerca en Ciències de l’Educació. U

Value stream analysis in military logistics: The improvement in order processing procedure

Military logistics is a complex process where response times, demand uncertainty, wide variety of material references, and cost-effectiveness are decisive for combat capability. The demanding flexibility can only be achieved by improving supply chain management (SCM) to minimize lead times. To cope with these requirements, lean thinking can be extended to military organizations. This research justifies and proposes the use of lean methodologies to improve logistics processes with the case study of a military unit. In particular, the article presents the results obtained using value stream mapping (VSM) and value stream design (VSD) tools to improve the order processing lead time of spare items. The procedure starts with an order generation from a military unit that requests the material and ends before transportation to the final destination. The whole project was structured, considering the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology. The results show that the future state map might increase added-value activities from 44% to 70%. After implementation, it was demonstrated that the methodology applied reduced the lead-time average and deviation up to 69.6% and 61.9%, respectively

Intervención breve en accidentados con alcoholemia positiva desde un centro de traumatología

E1 objetivo principal de la investigación es comprobar la efectividad de la intervención breve para reducir el consumo de alcohol en accidentados de tráfico adultos con alcoholemia positiva y sin dependencia del alcohol.En objetivo de la etapa piloto es comprobar la viabilidad estructural del proyecto (capacitación de los profesionales y viabilidad del cribado e intervención desde un centro de traumatología, así como una estimación aproximada de la prevalencia y perfil de los lesionados de tráfico con presencia de alcohol. Material: Se elabora un programa de formación con material de apoyo. Se aplica un método de detección del alcohol en saliva en lesionados de tráfico que acuden a urgencias de traumatología. A los pacientes con saliva positiva se les ofrece una intervención breve. Se recoge la opinión del personal sobre la eficacia percibida y viabilidad estimada del proyecto gobal (cribado e intervención) mediante cuestionarios de opinión. Se estudian la prevalencia y perfil de los pacientes con saliva positiva a partir del análisis comparativo de variables seleccionadas.Resultados: El personal entrenado considera (80%) útil y adecuada la formación recibida. Las enfermeras consideran (89%) que el método es fácil, no plantea demasiados problemas (55%) y es bien aceptado por el paciente (53%). El personal entrenado se ha sentido cómodo y eficiente (67%) al realizar la intervención. 261 de 264 pacientes aceptaron el cribado y el 11% tenía alcohol en saliva. Sólo 2 pacientes rechazaron la intervención, que fue practicada en 16 lesionados. Los pacientes con saliva positiva acuden más en fines de semana (p 0,005) y quedan ingresados con mayor frecuencia (p 0,05) que aquéllos con saliva negativa. Conclusión: el programa está bien estructurado, es viable y aceptado por el paciente. El estudio definitivo incluirá la determinación del alcohol en orina, en pacientes con saliva seca, y reforzará el cribado en fines de semana y politraumáticosMain research objective is to verify the effectiveness of brief intervention to reduce alcohol consumption in non-dependent adults injured in a traffic crash, presenting at the emergency department with a positive saliva alcohol test. The aim of the pilot study is to verify the feasibility of the project (staff training, screening and intervention at a trauma centre) and to roughly estimate the prevalence and profile of alcohol-attributable traffic casualties. Method: Training programme and support material are delivered. Saliva alcohol screening is performed by nurses in patients attending the emergency department because of a traffic crash. Positive patients are offered brief intervention. Staff's opinion on training, esteemed self-efficacy and feasibility of the whole procedure (screening and intervention) is collected by opinion surveys. Prevalence and profile of patients with positive saliva is drawn up by comparative analysis of selected variables. Results: Trained staff considers (80%) training useful and matching objectives. Nurses consider that, despite the nonvalid results in case of mouth dryness, the saliva test is easy (89%), doesn't pose major problems (55%), and is well accepted by the patient (53%). Trained staff have felt comfortable and self-effective (67%) in delivering the intervention. 261 out of 264 patients accepted screening and 28 (11%) had a positive result. Only 2 patients refused intervention, which was performed on 16. Patients with a positive test present more frequently in the weekends (p: 0.005) and are more hospitalised (p: 0.05) than those with a negative test. Conclusion: The programme is well designed, feasible and accepted by the patient. Main study will use urine alcohol test on patients with dry mouth, and will reinforce screening in the weekends and in sever injured patient

Análisis funcional y cinemático de la marcha en un paciente con lesión medular lumbar incompleta

Este estudio de investigación pretende analizar la evolución de la marcha en un paciente con lesión medular incompleta, tras ser sometido a un programa de entrenamiento de la marcha de forma asistida con soporte parcial del peso corporal con el sistema Lokomat®. Para ello se ha realizado una exploración física y funcional con las escalas de evaluación más utilizadas a éste nivel, conjuntamente con el análisis videográfico, permitiéndonos observar correlaciones entre los datos obtenidos en los apartados de pasos por minuto, velocidad y longitud de paso. Para poder corroborar estos datos, se ha realizado un estudio cinemático utilizando dos cámaras de alta definición, con una velocidad de filmación fijada en 100 imágenes por segundo, procesadas directamente a un ordenador, y realizando la Transformación de 2D a 3D, con el método Direct Linear Transformation (DLT) dado por el Performance Analysis System (APAS).The aim of this research study is to analyze the evolution of gait in a patient with incomplete lumbar spine injury, who was placed on an assisted gait training program with partial body-weight support using the Lokomat® system. A physical and functional assessment was carried out taking into account standard evaluation scales together with video analysis, which allowed us to observe correlations between the data collected for steps per minute, step speed and step length. To corroborate these data, a kinematic study was carried out using two high-resolution cameras with a shooting speed fixed at 100 images per second. Images were transferred directly to a computer and converted from 2D to 3D using the Direct Linear Transformation (DLT) method in the Ariel Performance Analysis System (APAS).Peer Reviewe

Residual enzymatic activity as a prognostic factor in patients with Gaucher disease type 1: Correlation with Zimran and GAUSS-I index and the severity of bone disease

Background: Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive disorder produced by mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA), causing storage of glucosylceramide in reticuloendothelial cells in multiple organs. Traditionally, the prediction of the phenotype based on the genotype has been reported to be limited.Subjects and Methods: We investigated the correlation between the enzymatic residual activity (ERA) and the phenotype at diagnosis of the disease in 45 GD Spanish patients (44 with type I and 1 with type III GD). The genotype involved two of the following previously expressed proteins: c.517A¿>¿C (T134P), 1%; c.721G¿>¿A (G202R), 17%; c.1090G¿>¿T (G325W), 13.9%; c.1208G¿>¿A (S364N), 4.1%; c.1226A¿>¿G (N370S), 17.8%; c.1246G¿>¿A (G377S), 17.6%; c.1289C¿>¿T (P391L), 8.5%; c.1448T¿>¿C (L444P), 3%; and c.1504C¿>¿T (R463C), 24.5%. Recombinant alleles, deletion of 55¿bp in exon 9 and 84GG mutation were considered as mutations with no residual enzymatic activity.Results: The ERA showed a statistically significant correlation with chitotriosidase (P¿<¿0.001), age (P¿<¿0.001), spleen size (P¿<¿0.001), ‘Zimran’s Severity Score Index’ (P¿<¿0.01) and the ‘Gaucher Disease Severity Score Index—Type I’ (P¿<¿ 0.0001) at diagnosis of the disorder. Previous to any medical intervention, a comparison between the ERA and bone involvement, demonstrated a statistically significant relationship (P¿<¿0.01) between the two variables.Conclusions: This study data allowed us to define a new criterion for prognostic assessment of the disease at diagnosis, called Protein Severity Index, which expresses the theoretical severity of the genotype presented by patients, according to the corresponding ERA

ASIC-based tachometer without mechanical transducer for induction machines

A classical method for angular position and speed estimation in adjustable speed drives uses an incremental shaft encoder and an electronic circuit. This paper presents SLESS, a tachometer without mechanical transducer implemented on an ASIC using sensorless speed estimation technique. The ASIC is intended to serve as part of an integrated solution developed for fuzzy speed regulation and vector control of induction motors

Modelling search for people in 900 scenes: A combined source model of eye guidance

How predictable are human eye movements during search in real world scenes? We recorded 14 observers’ eye movements as they performed a search task (person detection) in 912 outdoor scenes. Observers were highly consistent in the regions fixated during search, even when the target was absent from the scene. These eye movements were used to evaluate computational models of search guidance from three sources: Saliency, target features, and scene context. Each of these models independently outperformed a cross-image control in predicting human fixations. Models that combined sources of guidance ultimately predicted 94% of human agreement, with the scene context component providing the most explanatory power. None of the models, however, could reach the precision and fidelity of an attentional map defined by human fixations. This work puts forth a benchmark for computational models of search in real world scenes. Further improvements in modelling should capture mechanisms underlying the selectivity of observers’ fixations during search.National Eye Institute (Integrative Training Program in Vision grant T32 EY013935)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Singleton Graduate Research Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Graduate Research Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Award (0546262))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF contract (0705677))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award (0747120)

ASITRON: ASIC for indirect vector control of induction motors with fuzzy logic based speed regulation

This paper presents ASITRON, an integrated solution for the vector control of induction motors. This ASIC is a micro-system that integrates, in a chip, all the logic required by the indirect vector control method. ASITRON implements a PWM based current control loop, the measure of speed based on a biphase pulse signal encoder, a fuzzy logic based speed and position outer control loop and a microprocessor external parallel interface. A built-in 64-rules fuzzy logic controller can be programmed to deal with the speed or position outer control loop. This integrated solution is the essential part of a compact, high performance, industrial control system for elevators